Dolphin & Borneo Indigenous Tribes

Today I am going to be writing about one of the most interesting animals in the ocean the dolphin. I am also going to tell you how I am feeling at the moment.

Dolphins are sometimes thought of as the dogs of the sea because they are usually playful and friendly. They’re also among the smartest animals on Earth. Dolphins are water mammals. Scientists believe they’re as smart as chimpanzees or dogs. They live in rivers and oceans, but they must come up to breathe air. A Dolphin is a cetacean mammal, related to whales and porpoises. Though people sometimes think ‘dolphin’ and ‘porpoise’ are the same thing, porpoises are not considered dolphins and have different physical features (Porpoises have a shorter beak and spade-shaped teeth) and they also behave in different ways than a dolphin does. Porpoises and dolphins share a common ancestry, being of the Delphinidae mammal family.

A video of a dolphin show to see how smart dolphins can be when trained.

Many people think it is cruel to keep a dolphin in captivity, especially as they are such intelligent creatures. It is cruel to keep any animal in captivity (like in a cage in the zoo), yet sometimes it is the only way to show kids rare or endangered animals, or animals from far away places. Animals are usually very sad to be in captivity and are best left in the wild where they belong. Imagine, would you be happy if you were in a little room for all your life till you died? How would you feel, if you could never run, climb, go on a trip, take long walks or play your favorite sports game? Would you like it if you were taken away from your family and friends and were lonely without ever meeting new people, just walking back and forth in your room all your life? It is fun to watch a show, just remember, it is not always fun for the animal to be part of it!

Borneo Indigenous Tribes

The Dayak people are indigenous people of the Kalimantan region of Borneo. The Dayak people used to be mainly Islam un till the 19th century when there was mass conversion to christianity. The name, meaning ‘upstream’ or ‘inland’, was applied by the mainly Islamic coastal population as a term for over 200 tribal groups, each with its own language and culture. Traditionally, each group lives in a communal longhouse. There are about 3 million Dayaks (est. 2003) on the island Borneo.

It is believed that the indigenous people on the tropical island of Borneo, including the Dayaks, are descendants of Austronesian people from Asia who arrived about 3000 years ago, replacing the previous stone-age population. The immigrants spoke Austronesian languages from which the Dayak languages are descended. About 2400 years ago the Austronesians learned metalworking skills from the Asian Dongson culture. In the 1950s the inhabitants were using a mixture of metal and stone tools.

From 1996 to 2003 there have been violent attacks on the Madurese settlers, including a resurgence of the beheading and cannibalism for which the Dayaks were formerly renowned.

There are Seven main Tribes

Ngaju.

Apo Kayan (part of their sub-ethnic groups are known as Orang Ulu along with other smaller sub-ethnic Dayak groups in Malaysia)

Iban or Hiban (Sea Dayak)

Bidayuh (Land Dayak)

Murut.

Punan.

Ot Danum.

(Credit to Wikipedia for the List) You can tell what tribe people are in by their tattoos which are done traditionally with a needle and a hammer. This is a video of a iban tribal tattoo being done enjoy!

These tattoos are 3x more painful than any normal tattoo!

How I am Feeling

Today I am feeling very happy and chilled out especially because of how slow we are taking things. Today we are thinking of going to the cultural village down the road but again we are just going to go with the flow. I am always feeling very hot when I am here and I wonder how I will cope with the temperature in England when I get there! If you want me too write about our recent tour of the Santubong river and also the mangroves where we saw crocodiles and dolphins then please say yes or no in the poll below. If you have any other suggestions then select other and type your suggestion in!